#026 More Than Music: A Guide to Unlocking Childhood Potential - Delana Green

My guest today is Delana Green, a lifelong Alaskan from the Kenai Peninsula, musician, educator, and founder of Greenhouse Music. She’s also a podcaster and creator who has built a YouTube channel with over 10,000 subscribers—all from right here in Alaska.

In this conversation, Delana shares how her background in music and theatre shaped her creative journey, leading her to teaching and building Greenhouse Music. Through stories about her students, she illustrates the real impact music has on kids—building confidence, emotional regulation, focus, and connection—and what’s truly lost when music disappears from schools.

We dive into her mission to reduce barriers to music education and make it accessible for all kids, meeting families where they are and creating opportunities for students who might not otherwise have access. Delana also shares the challenges and rewards of creating from a rural place—building a business, podcast, and online audience—and why meaningful ideas don’t have to come from somewhere else to make an impact.

Visit her website: www.greenhousemusicak.com 

Check out Greenhouse Music on YouTube

Find her on Facebook @greenhousemusicak

Transcript

Hello and welcome to The State I Am In where every conversation points north. Here we discuss the topics that Alaskans and perhaps everyone may care about. I'm your host, Manny Coelho a fellow Alaskan and your guide to the conversations that Alaskans want to hear from the individuals who are leading the way. My guest today is Delana Green. Delana is a lifelong Alaskan who grew up on the Kenai Peninsula and is the founder of Greenhouse Music.

She's a musician, an educator, a fellow podcaster and creator who has built a YouTube channel with over 10,000 subscribers right here in Alaska.

In today's conversation, we talk about Delana's background in music and theater, how those creative roots shaped who she is today, and how that path eventually led her into teaching and building what's known today as greenhouse music.

Through personal stories about her students, Delana shares the real impact music can have on kids, from building confidence, emotional regulation, focus, and connection, to what's truly lost when music disappears from our schools.

We also discuss her mission to reduce the barriers to music education and how she's working to make music more accessible by providing a variety of resources within the community, meeting families where they are and creating on-ramps for kids who might not otherwise have access.

We get into what it's like to create from a rural place, building a business, a podcast, and an online audience, all while raising a family here in Alaska. And why big ideas don't have to come from the big city in order to be meaningful.

As someone walking a similar path, I genuinely enjoy talking with a fellow podcaster and creator who is figuring out how to grow something real, sustainable, and impactful from the ground up. And now my conversation with Delana Green.

Manny (02:18)
it's insane what is out there now that's actually available to be for content creation.

and it's nice, but it also is like, and all the AI stuff too, but then you spend a long time correcting it. You spend just as much time correcting it, so everyone's like, it saves you time. It doesn't save you time yet. And there's so much that's like, guess that is what I asked for, but that is not what I want at all. That's not what I there at You have to know exactly what you want from it, and when you're creation and you're creative, it's not always easy to know exactly what you want from it.

I've dabbled with some AI stuff, like AI videos, they, Riverside has one, kind of, but. It's just not good. No, it's, you still have a ton of work, so it actually doesn't save you much time. I agree. So I have not been able to do that yet, but I'm waiting for the softwares to come that will actually save me legitimate time because it is, it's a lot to do a podcast. I want to, and we'll get into that for sure. I'm happy that, that we got to do this now because I have.

Just looking at the schedule, I have some people lined up that are doing stuff on YouTube that like have a significant following of people, like people in Alaska that are creating and doing stuff. So it's cool to be able to start closer to home for me at least to kind of launch into that area. ⁓ Because yeah, it's a whole new world for me. But then the more that I'm in it, the more I'm like, there's amazing people here doing stuff. And so it's been cool to find them and then, you know, reach out and most Alaskans have been.

pretty cool about like, yeah, that sounds like a good idea. I'll come talk for whatever. We're game. We're game for everything. That's the kind cool thing about Alaska. Yeah, I definitely want to find and connect with more creators too, because I feel like when you're creating, especially if you're in a very individualistic niche, it's hard to others that to just bounce ideas off of even, or to create sort of like a symbiotic mentorship and like, hey, you're really good at this. What are your tips on this? But I'm really good at this. Can I help you with this? Yeah.

you don't know where to go or who to find until you actually meet them. Yeah. So it's a little tricky. Totally. I've even had the thought just locally, like in this, in this area, and maybe they have something like this in, in Anchorage or Fairbanks, bigger cities. But with the amount of people that are doing stuff, I mean, I was like, it'd be really cool if there was like a cool studio place, you know, kind of like where you had all the stuff where you had people that were like, Hey, we can, you know,

get a time slot for a studio versus me reaching out to people and being like, hey, do you want to come into my house in Nikiski and record a podcast? The end of the road. The end of the road, yeah. Which, Alaskans are super cool. And they're like, yeah, let's do it. You're not Robert Hanson. We don't have to worry. I know. It's so funny. I've talked to people. it's funny because they always are agreeable to it. And then after, usually after the episode, they're like, this is so much fun. I'm glad I did it.

To be honest, when you first reached out, I was a little hesitant. Like, this guy has a studio in his basement in Nikiski and he wants me to come out. Honestly, my husband was like, how do you feel? Because I'm usually very, very much more cautious than I was. But I think I saw some of the videos of the people you interviewed. I'm like, I know that person. I know that person. I know Shelby. I've worked with Shelby on partnerships. And I'm like, she was comfortable around him. Look her. She's not. And so I think it just instantly made me feel like,

This guy, and watching some of the videos too, and just kind of seeing your personality, you felt very authentic. And so I don't know, I just wasn't worried, which was kind of not like me. So it was really funny. Well, what's funny is that now that there's some podcasts that I listen to where it seems that like their setup is at their house, they're like at a ranch and they like, it's like a whole thing. It's almost like a whole day. Like they come out, they record, they go out in the backyard and they have like a shooting range and they, you know, go do some other.

you know, eat lunch or barbecue or like, it's like a whole thing and it's at their house. I'm like, I don't know if I have the location for that yet, but you know, people are still willing at this point. So let it ride. think it works. I like what you got here. Well, Delana Green. Yeah. Thank you for coming out. Thank you for saying yes. Greenhouse music. We're going to talk about that a lot. And to have a fellow, I don't even want to, I feel like imposter syndrome, myself in the

content creator niche, because I started yesterday, it feels like. You've been doing it much longer than I have. ⁓ You have a great thing that you're putting out on the internet already. Thank you. With Greenhouse Music, and I want to learn more about that. I want to share it with people, but I'm also just kind of intrigued how that started and the things that you've learned on that journey. But I always start every episode off with how things started.

for you in Alaska specifically. So you grew up here, were you a transplant? Where did you grow up? What was your Alaska connection? Oh, wow. I'm deep Alaskan. I have my grandma and grandpa. They lived in Juneau for a long time. My grandma was born in Teneke and my great grandparents, I'm pretty sure they were homesteads in that region. I don't know the exact.

location, but I believe it was near Tenakee And my grandma met my grandpa. He was born in Oregon, but he was up here on the Coast Guard. And they were told that there's a bunch of girls that meet the men at the docks and take them to church. I love this story. And so my grandpa met my grandma, Sara, at the docks and she took him to church.

Now, here I am two generations later. ⁓ But my great grandparents, they were very Alaskan. ⁓ Like I said, my grandpa was born in Oregon. He was military, two or three different branches. And then my grandma, she's very deep roots Alaskan. My dad was born and raised technically in Juneau because he was a military brat. He went around a little bit, but they always came back to Juneau. And my grandpa was a security guard and then like a... ⁓

He was one of the main police people there. He did a lot of service in Juneau And then my dad met my mom in college. They moved up to Fairbanks and to Healy and came down here in like 90 or 88 maybe. they lived here until 2012, 2011 around there. They were pastors here full time. And so I grew up pretty much the next road next to the hospital in Soldotna

I'm just born and raised here. I've gone out for college and certain things like that. But I didn't expect it to be my full-time home as an adult. I always kind of had huge aspirations. But then I met my husband and we both, he was a transplant and he came up from Oklahoma. So he's like the Southern boy. And when...

We got engaged and got married. were planning on leaving Alaska to go out and do music and acting because I was doing both. And I went to film school for that and things. And so I was really having my heart set on going to California. And then him and I decided we wanted to start a family. And that led to, ⁓ that means we probably shouldn't move to California. We should probably stay here. And so then we ended up staying here.

I really, I had some good advice around that time of, you can do all the big things that you want to do right here. It doesn't have to feel small. It can still feel big. And so since then, that's kind of where I've been is I've been very happy here other than when it's negative 25 degrees. Yeah. And freezing. That's awesome. How old are your kids now?

⁓ I have a eight year old, a six year old and a four year old who just had all their birthdays. So now they're all new ages and I'm still trying to get used to my baby being a four, but yeah, eight, six and four. So they are still really little, but my oldest is kind of getting more, you know, they, they have that different mind that you're able to kind of converse a little bit more. And she's too smart for britches. So it's, it's becoming interesting. Okay. Yeah. And, ⁓

It's interesting that you had the, growing up here, grandparents were in Alaska, parents were in Alaska. And then you were like, love it here, I... Peace out. Yeah. I'm going to get out, go do some big things somewhere else. You said you did go out for college, right? Not too far out, but I went to Anchorage first. And that was kind of my... I was planning on going to Washington for college, but...

I ended up having a very, very tumultuous senior year and that really changed a lot of my plans. So I ended up going to UAA for a little bit, hated my experience up there. I had a terrible roommate that didn't, we didn't mesh well. They weren't terrible, but our situation was just not great. And so then I came back, but I did go to LA for a little bit for a film program that I loved.

And I was down there and I'm like, I am in my artistic bubble and everyone down there is artistic, you know? And I was in this artistic bubble for the first time in my life and it felt like, my goodness, I'm home. These are my people. Yeah. Yeah. I was surrounded by people that were my people versus, know, we have a huge medical community and a lot of people want to be doctors and teachers and nurses in our area growing up. And I was like, that's not me, you know? So it felt very, and I think that's why I felt very called to.

like want to move there so badly and want to leave the state is because I felt very out of place. I'm not super outdoorsy. I'm not a fisher person. ⁓ I don't enjoy fishing. I got too bored. ⁓ I don't really do a lot of hunting. I like hiking. I don't do it enough. I'm, I'm a homebody when it comes to Alaska standards, but you put me in a city and I feel like I really thrive. ⁓

Now that's changed a lot, I'd say, just becoming a mom and, you know, things change and your personality does change a little bit. So I, I ended up really finding kind of my best version of me here versus in finding, kind of creating my own community. you and your husband in looking at starting a family,

you knew that even though maybe somewhere else could give you all your hopes and dreams and be around more of your surrounded by what you're wanting to create, you're like, this is probably gonna be the best place to raise a family though. Well, that and money wise, I mean, when we got married, we were planning on within a year moving. And so we were like, we gotta save money, we gotta do this. And I was having a great year.

When it comes to acting and theater, I was doing a lot of directing. I worked a lot with Triumvirate I was doing a lot of acting. I was doing film. I did my first feature-length film for the first time. I was taking classes. I was getting photos. I was really gearing my life towards this move. And he lost his grandfather, someone that he really loved.

He came back from that funeral, as one does, and reevaluates their life and their priorities. And this man has wanted to be a dad since, you know, he was a teenager. He's like, I'm ready. And that's just his personality. He that dad mentality. So it was was partly that ⁓ of, OK, we don't have the money to move and have a child and start our lives down there. And we've talked about this many times where if we would have done that.

who knows if we would have actually survived that relationship, like if our relationship would thrive in that environment. And I'm really glad we didn't raise kids in California, in LA specifically. We were also looking at Georgia and the same kind of thing. I'm really happy we didn't go that route because that would have been very different. And I have family up here. He doesn't have family here anymore, but I my sister and my parents live in Anchorage. you know, I've

built my life here, even up to that point. And so it ended up really becoming what we wanted here. Yeah. I think it's cool that you said that not to look at where we live as like, just because you don't get to go and do all the things that you had in your mind that would be possible in LA or California to still have that mindset right here where you live with all your hopes and dreams and things that you're trying to create and do. think that's, that's pretty cool. Cause maybe

someone would give up on that dream and be like, well, I'm just gonna be a mom and all that other stuff that I wanted to do, it's out the window. That was a Joe Rizzo thing. Joe Rizzo is one of my personal kind of mentors. I've met him before, my wife knows him. He's a dreamer. But he's also like, he makes things happen. And he was kind of one of the people that was always very honest with me and like, honey.

He's kind of Uncle Joe at this point. He's like, honey, this is not, you have your foot here and your foot here. You can create the space you want to live in here. You can create all of those things that you want to here because we need that person here. And he's like, that could be you and kind of like Yoda it. You that could be here could be that you, I don't know. And so, yeah, that was very much a Joe Rizzo talk that stuck with my head.

And really, and he, I mean, he cultivated it. He helped me become a director and start writing. He really, really helped me to start writing plays and gave me a space for that, gave me a stage for that and still does, even though I'm not acting in theater right now, he's still, he texts me like, Hey, are you gonna audition for the show? And I'm like, not right now, even though it's so hard to say no. He's like, you're doing a good thing. You're doing the right thing. And I think it's really important to have someone like that in your.

For sure. what were your earliest memories of music and acting and creating and do you feel like you always had a bend towards that or was it something you discovered later on? No, I feel like I came out of the womb with jazz hands or something. ⁓ It was...

It was very early. I have memories of sitting at the sandbox in daycare and singing songs that were just coming to my head about my day, like me singing how I was feeling at that moment. If a friend was playing with someone else and I was sad about it, I'd sing it. And I put on like a show for an audience of no one. And that's partly because my mom was very old school in her generation, too, where she watched a lot of like old musicals. So I grew up on a lot of

older musicals. And that's just kind of what I thought you did. And I think it was just that early, ⁓ that early thing that just hit me hard. And I always loved it. I loved putting on shows. I loved creating stories. I wrote like my first stories when I was like eight. I loved creating songs, just waking up and expressing what the day was or my feelings. And it was just always a constant there.

My dad always said that there was never a microphone I was afraid of. I, ever since I could remember, I always felt a very thick, tangible calling towards the stage. Like I would go to a concert and I would feel it. That's awesome. So it's always been there. Did your parents recognize that early on as well and connected you with music lessons or playing instruments or those kind of activities? Yeah.

So my dad also likes to write and act a little bit. And as a pastor, he did a lot of that for, you know, like the Easter service, he'd write a play for it. And it's just something that he just kind of had as a hobby, but he used it for a church a lot. So he would always involve me in those. We did a couple of radio dramas when I was really young. I barely, barely remember, but I was reminded of it recently. He did a community outreach thing called the matrix when I was like,

That's actually the first time I ever met Joe and worked with Triumvirate because we rented their space. And so I would act a lot in that and I would do a lot of skits. And then my mom was a singer, has always been a singer. And so she put microphones in front of me pretty early on too. I grew up singing in church specials every Christmas. I was on the worship team. was leading the worship team for a really long time as a teenager. And I...

worked in like camps and I was always like on the ministry team for camps and the drama team and leading it. So it was, they both knew that about me. It was pretty, when you met me, you knew that about me pretty early on as a kid. And my sister is always kind of more of the behind the scenes. gets everything done. And so I think it was just this vast difference that it became very obvious. What kind of instruments did you grow up playing or gravitate?

towards, I think of, when I think of like church music influence, I think of the piano, obviously, it seems like one that a lot of churches will have no music program, but they will have. A piano. At least a piano. Was there any instruments that you picked up as a kid or how did that evolve? Like what do you, what's your repertoire now, you can play? It started with piano. Okay. When I was like, I started playing cause my sister was playing and I did not practice.

And I tell my students this all the time, like, I did not practice and I did not like it. I actually, liked the idea of singing with it, but I didn't like the idea of having to learn specific songs and then go and show them to my teacher until I was around 11 and my teacher completely shifted the space to being more chords and like worship leading. So once I started learning chords, it like boom, because then I could play songs that I knew and I could play songs that I knew inside and out.

And I started writing songs around that time too, like actually writing them down with chords. So it's funny that that's where I was for a very long time. And when I was performing, that's where I was. And I actually got terrible at reading sheet music. And it's ironic to me because the other day I was doing chords and I did not have the fast chord mindset that I used to have and I could feel it, but my reading has gotten better. So there's the...

two different approaches to music. And one is more like that chords and then the other one is sheet music and reading the individual notes on the staff. And I definitely liked the chords because you have so much more freedom in it. And I did not like rules. And I liked that creative freedom and that expression. So that's where I definitely gravitated towards. I did guitar around the age of 15, 16. And I started doing that a lot when I was ⁓ an early adult.

I did a lot more guitar because it was easier to travel with. And I had this tiny Dodge Neon and it was hard to carry my keyboard all the time. And so I started learning guitar more and I liked it and I wrote a lot of songs on it, but it didn't feel nearly as much to me as the piano. I always kind of came back to the piano and I still, I do, I love the piano now even more than ever. And yeah, so. Did you do singing lessons or voice lessons or anything like that growing up? I did. I did like various singing.

camps and vocal camps I did when I did the piano and the chords with my teacher, you know, she would work on my singing just a little bit more developing my ear. And then I did a little bit of voice lessons when I was a senior, but overall I rarely did choir throughout school. did like one semester of choir in middle school. know it's really kind of funny. It's because my schedule was always taken up by band. So you have the room for like two

specials and so I had band and I actually didn't like it but it's how I met my husband so it all worth it. It was really when I started teaching music that I started to understand it even more and that's when I fell in love with all of it. So now I just love all the instruments and I have a basic understanding of the main instruments that someone learns you know. But back then

Like I played trombone and I was really bad at it. And my poor band teacher was pulling the hair out that he had left. I feel bad pretty regularly when I think about that. I'm like, man, I just was not good and I didn't practice. But now I like that instrument a lot more. The trombone? Yeah, which is why I feel like I understand it You're like, I get it now. get it now. I get it now, which it's very similar in.

the way the bass works, it's kind of just math in some ways. But I understand it now, but also I'm very grateful for it because even though I did it for eight years and I did not like it, that eighth year I met my husband and he was playing trombone right next to me. So like we met in that music classroom and that I'm like forever grateful for. it'll happen for a purpose. He's musically inclined as well. Yeah, more in guitar. Okay, cool. More with guitar than I am sometimes.

mom tells me a story about when I was like six years old, she tried to get me into music lessons and it was guitar. I wanted to learn how to guitar because my childhood idol was Garth Brooks and I wanted to be Garth Brooks when I grew up. And so she was like, okay. She signed me up to some, you know, local guy music store that had lessons during the day. And I left crying because he didn't teach me friends in low places. He was teaching me.

just the basics, right? And I was so frustrated as a six year old. I was like, I want to learn friends and love places. And my mom was like, well, you just got to stick with it. And I said, I'm not going back if I can't learn Garth Brooks. So I didn't go back. But then I picked it up again as a teenager. You know what I thought? I wish I would have stuck with it because I would have been so much better. I hear that from nearly everyone. I hear that from everybody. Nearly every adult that ever took a music class were like, I wish I stuck with

I wish I stuck with piano or guitar. But yeah, that's actually one of the questions I ask parents when they come in is like, does your kid have a favorite song? So that in the first like lesson too, I can kind of give a little bit of that gratification almost of actually achieving something. dangling the carrot just a little bit. Just a little bit. Even if it's like one bar or one measure, just something to kind of be like, I can do this. It's achievable

Cause yeah, that's a huge motivator. That's the big motivator. That's a good transition into when you discovered that this isn't just something that you love doing. This is something that you want to be able to teach others. When did, when did that kind of come onto the radar? was an accident. What? Okay. I never wanted to be a teacher. That was not something that ever was on my radar. ⁓ I wanted to be a business owner. wanted to run my own businesses from like the age of eight.

I had ideas, I knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur. I knew that word and that's what I was gonna do with my life. ⁓ And I also knew that I had a gifting for ministry too. That was something that was very obvious to me from an early age and my parents too and that was just in my blood. ⁓ And I loved music and acting and I wanted to do those. So all of that like from a very early age, especially music and acting, I was like from the age of four.

⁓ I didn't know how all those would combine at all, but I was planning on going to business school and that's what I studied was business. I was working at a daycare and I've always loved kids and I always knew I wanted to work with kids. I would love that. But that was never a job thing. That was always a, just like working with kids. ⁓ But I was working at daycare and I was working in the toddler room and I found out I really liked it.

It was just while I was, you my hours off of school. And through that, I found, okay, I actually like, you know, being in charge of kids. I like that. It's fun. I started teaching because someone asked me to teach their kid on the side. And I still know who my first student was and how she has kids that are almost old enough. So it's crazy. And so I started teaching her and then I started teaching another kid. It was just people from my church wanting me to teach their kids.

found out I was kind of good at it and I liked it. And then at first it was kind of like, oh, well could earn this much if I continue doing it. You know, it's just kind of a money thing. Like I need to save up money because I'm an adult now and I have adult like payments to make. How old are you at this time in your life? 18, 19. Okay. I was 19. Yeah. So this was like 2012. So I started just very small and it was because there was a necessity for it and I had the skill set.

I wouldn't say I was super passionate about it just yet, but when I started doing it more because I'm like, it makes money, I'll do it. And I started doing it more. found out I really loved it. And I just, every year I felt like the passion for that grew and my teaching style grew and my confidence in it grew. And now I feel like I've built kind of a really cool thing with just within myself of

how much I love to teach and how much I love to teach kids. And it started out, I taught adults too. I taught adults piano, taught adults voice, guitar I taught for a long time too. But I ended up shifting when we rebranded and I decided I'm not teaching guitar anymore. I'm not teaching adults. I just wanna teach kids. Because I know I'm good at it. I know I have the patience for it that not a lot of people have. And I enjoy it a lot and I wanna fill my time with the thing I enjoy most.

And so because I had to start to be choosy, I decided that's I was going to choose. So now I like to say like, I specialize with kids, especially young ones that need more patience Cause I feel like God gave me an exorbitant amount of patience somehow. That's awesome. So those early years, you kind of found that you had a knack for that. And especially with, with kids, how did that progress into like your young adulthood? You know, did you go and dabble with other things, other jobs?

Or were you on this path to like, want to be a music teacher full time. ⁓ that was where like that conversation with Joe happened of I had one foot in this idea of going down to LA. So for a while it was kind of like this me into an end of I, it's making me money. I'm enjoying it. It's kind of fun. ⁓ but it's allowing me to do the kind of stuff that I want to do.

And so I had this idea of like, I'll do this until I need to move. And then when I'm down there, if it's something I can fall back on, it's my fallback job. So for a while it was that. And then once I realized that I did want to stay up here, that was kind of the first like real shift of, ⁓ there's something really magical here that I've been denying myself. And that came along with, I didn't even know that I wanted to be a mom until...

I found out I was pregnant after him saying I want to start a family. And when I found out I was pregnant with our first kid, I didn't really know that I wanted to be a mom until that moment. And then it was like, through that process, I was learning there was so many aspects of me from a very young age that is motherly. Just like I see that, I see that in my husband. And from the minute I met him, he's very fatherly in a lot of ways, and he's very mentorship based. But there was a lot of things that

lined up with that. And it's the same thing with teaching. Once I kind of opened my heart to being willing to see the potential within this, I feel like that really opened up my passion a lot more for it. I don't know if I've ever really admitted that a lot or at all in, you know, publicly, because I wish I could say like, I've wanted, you know, I've had this passion to teach kids from the beginning, but no, it, definitely found me.

I was not a good student. wasn't a bad kid, but I never did well in school. I've had undiagnosed ADHD my whole life until recently. So I did not flourish in school. I did not get good grades. So the idea of me becoming a teacher was very farfetched and surprising the most to me probably than anyone else. yeah, completely changed. Did you make a jump from teaching just private lessons to

actually jumping into like school district and becoming a music teacher in that world? That's another thing. That happened because I had a student that was like, hey, we don't have music at our school anymore. And that really hit me and it hit my husband too. He's very much been my supporter, my cheerleader, but he's also been very separated from the business. had it, you know, when we were dating and when we were engaged and when we got married, but it's always been very much mine.

And when we rebranded, it became more of ours. And it was around that time that we rebranded that I got a student that was like, we don't have music in my school and it's the middle school. And I'm like, what? Yeah, that's usually, that's what you look forward to. It's like finally middle school. Yeah. Yeah, that's huge. And it blew my mind. And my husband was upset about it too. And both of us just felt this strong pull of like, we have to do something. And there wasn't anything in this realm that we both felt that way.

And so this has been more of like an us project than just me. So he's very much a like, you need to do this. I'm pushing you out a little bit. and we rebranded, I got the scholarship to start doing like online classes and I developed that. And through all of that and this experience with the student, I started realizing like there is more of a need than I realized. And I felt this huge calling to just.

apply for this middle school job, even though I knew for a fact that I didn't have the credentials for it. Like, I know I'm not going to get it, but I had to get references and I had to get, you know, people I could put on my resume. And I was finding that when I was asking for these, they were like, oh, that's awesome. Yes, do this, do this. need this. And I think that's why I felt so called to do it was because I needed to hear that validation. And from that moment, we started asking ourselves,

how can we change what's happening in our district? Because if we lose music in the elementary schools, we're gonna lose it in the middle schools. And if we lose it in the middle schools, we have nothing left in high school. Because you need those developmental years. through that, there was just less and less schools that were offering music or had a full-time music teacher in our area. And I know that it wasn't all for lack of trying. I know that many tried, but it was hard to get a teacher to come up here. And...

After trying with a couple of different schools and things falling apart and failing, it was really discouraging, but I just kept feeling this pull to keep trying. And I finally found one school that said yes. And they had me come in and it was just about life changing and such a beautiful way. I loved it way more than I thought I would. I was nervous to go back into a school building because I did not have a great experience, but I ended up really looking forward to it. And now it's.

It's getting out there a little bit more. Parents are becoming aware that we don't have music and they want it for their kids. Teachers have known this for a while, but there's not much that they can do. And then the principals feel like their hands are tied. And I mean, this is my observation. So it's not all generalized. ⁓ But through this process, I'm getting a little bit of a different observation and different look into the schools of what would actually help them.

What is achievable? How can they still give this offering? And that's where I've really shifted on from the idea of, I can come in and be a full-time music teacher at this place. And that's not possible for most of them. So what I've been doing for the schools is coming up with kind of more individualized packages of, if this is your budget, let me see what we can do within this to help just get your kids music.

Even if it's very minimal or even if it's just like the teachers adding in a little bit of time here, like five minutes, you know, or using a song and a rhythm to introduce the life cycle of fish that everyone goes through. You know, there's, ways to implement it into it. And so part of my job is showing teachers, principals, even parents, how to just integrate it into what they're already learning. So it's not actually a ton of extra time.

And they don't have to have the specialized information to make it happen. I wanted to speak to just what your observations were with the school district. My wife's a teacher, so I hear and see similar patterns. And it is unfortunate that...

The same things come on the chopping block, I feel like, when there's an issue of the budget, which seems like perpetually always. And for some reason, education is always like one of the things that we have to cut back on or cut staff or cut programs. And it's always sports and music and theater. And they just want to keep the you know, the core math, science and history, which, I mean, those things are great. Yes. But there is a really important.

aspect of having these other creative and physical things to be able to do at school as part of growing up and development and so it is frustrating when you feel like you if you're a school or if you're a teacher in a school with no music program and it's like you're just trying to find ways to be able to give them some options even if it is just in part of the lesson throughout the day I think that's cool that you're at least working with schools and

that way, or at least you're hoping to. ⁓ You bring up the topic about music in education in the early elementary years. So why is that such a critical window for kids to get exposed to music in those early years? So there's the idea of, you know, kids and

how much brain development they're going through at such a young age and how learning another language, there's a really great window for that. You know, every, that's something you've heard many times. That's something adults know. And it's the same kind of window for music. And when you're introducing it, yes, it's another language, but it's also a tool. And I think the more music we have in the schools, the less ⁓ dysregulation. So,

You have that language processing and music works both sides of the brains. And especially during those developmental years, it's so awesome what it can do, right? It creates pathways and that is powerful in itself. But then you look at the regulation side. And I recently gave a talk with community members at KPC that were all service providers for early education. And we were talking mostly about emotional regulation in

crises and emergency situations. And the benefits that music brings as a tool when kids are going through rough things and that can be anything from just calming down from hearing a little bit of just classical music in the background or calm. There's different decibels that increase certain brain activity that's from a different region. Music is so...

so calming to the brain. It's a tool for expression. It's a tool for movement. There's guidance in all of those aspects of it can touch nearly everything a kid needs. It can be woven in. And when we lose just the basics of that or the connection between music and all of those things,

that makes sense. I feel like we are missing out on so much of a kid's developmental time. mean, you look at historically music being very much a way for stories to be passed down, you know? And I'm seeing less and less kids knowing nursery rhymes and Christmas carols. I saw, I did a caroling group this year and it was the second year in a row where I really felt like, man, these kids don't know classic Christmas carols.

which led me to do the podcast series I decided to do. And I was writing songs and doing the carols and I was mixing them together, right? So I had my originals and the carol songs. And so the kids were learning both and they're like, oh, did you write this? I'm like, no, that's Silent Night. Okay. How do I explain this? Or did you write this one? No, that's Joy to the World. And I just, seeing these patterns and I've seen them for years, but they're getting worse. I'm like, kids don't know classic nursery rhymes. And not that that's...

Like not that every child needs to know classic nursery rights, but there's so much history in them and there's so many just simple things to be taught by them. You know, when you think about, I like to give the example of when I was in labor ⁓ with my first baby, my husband, we, you know, instead of doing the breathing through breathing through contractions, we were singing ABCs and it was just kind of to get me through.

And I was able to do it, you know, the whole song and it would help me focus on something else to be in a, you know, a frustrating moment of your body or to be in a crisis of the body or going through a traumatic time. There's still those songs that everybody knows that can come to the mind. And we're not giving that tool. Interesting. And so I feel sad for the generations that have like that test. You know, when I was there, those kids had not had music in six years. So the kinder, the

Sixth grade class was kindergartners when they last had music at that school last year. So they're not learning those and they're not gaining those tools. yes, every, every, most kids know the ABCs. So that's helpful, but there's so much more than just that. That's just a really good example that we're not giving these tools out anymore. And that's so important. And so I think that's part of the reason why I'm so passionate about it is because it gives so much to kids in a world where they need help.

to deal with what we have in this world and what we have in it. There's schools in the lower 48 especially where kids are afraid to go to school, parents are afraid to send their kids to school because of what's going on. So we need to combat that fear of tools for children. And this is a really powerful tool that's not being used. Yeah. I heard a really sad statement by the local music store owner in Kenai.

I'm blanking on his name right now. Copycats? Yeah. Okay. I don't remember the name of... But he... I went in there looking for... This was like a year or two ago. What was I looking for? I was looking for a drum set because my kids... I was like, we're getting ready to go in winter. I want to get some like musical instruments. I taught myself how to play the drums. I enjoy playing the drums. And I was like, maybe my kids will enjoy it. My son at the time was like showing some like, like he might actually be able to...

carry a beat. I was like, let's explore that. And so I went there, he didn't have any drum sets. And he's like, he had guitars and other instruments. And I said, man, so where can I find one? He's like, well, you're not going to find one anywhere around here. He's like, you definitely go to Anchorage. And I was like, that's such a bummer. And he's like, yeah, kids just don't want to rock out anymore. And I was like, what? He's like, everyone that comes in my store is like your age. They're like mid thirties. Where they wish they would have stuck with it. Exactly. Right. And

he's like, I don't get a lot of kids coming in here looking for musical instruments. He's like, once upon a time that was who was in the music store was like parents with their kids that are getting instruments because music was a big part of life. And he's like, it's just not that way anymore. And I kind of reflected on that for a while. I'm like all more motivation. One, for me to find some instruments for my kids to play. ⁓ two, just kind of gave me a ⁓ big like

thousand foot view of what's changed. And he's like, yeah, he's like, kids are doing stuff on TikTok and they're creating things digitally now and they want cameras and they want microphones, you know, for their phone or ⁓ he's like, they don't really want musical instruments. And I was like, huh, that's really sad because I think it is a big tool to be able to use as a form of expression.

Thankfully my daughter she is she she writes music she like she writes her thoughts down she makes songs She makes she was making raps at like six years old and I was like, okay a little edgy but whatever I like it making raps and I'm so glad that she had a music teacher at at ⁓ Mountain View actually that Introduced her to Soundtrap and she had a soundtrack account is like a second grader and has been making songs like all the time and

and she is able to express herself that way. So it is sad to hear that that isn't the norm, that there's kids out there that are not getting access to this form of expression. And it's also atmospheric. So one of the things that kind of caught me off guard that I just did on a whim and then I ended up really loving doing it was I went early to the school and during drop off I was playing the ukulele and just like singing, like making up songs like for the day.

But parents were loving it and the teachers were loving it and the kids were walking in with smiles on their face to the school. Like they come in the school and this happens. And it was such a powerful eye opener of, wow, this sets the tone. And you know that, you know, when you walk into a room or you walk into a building, there is a tone that's sent. You know, they know this in big companies where they know this in stores. Abercrombie and Fitch comes to mind and Hollister.

There's, there's this atmosphere that's set and part of why I think schools are, I don't want to say failing, but I think that there's so much that is struggling. And I believe that everyone can agree on that no matter what location you're in here or the lower 48. And I feel like we do have a little bit of protection, ⁓ in some of the struggles, but then we have our own cause we're so rural. Yeah. And, but I think that setting the tone should be.

one of the first priorities when kids come into the school of how are these children feeling when they come in? Are we getting a lot of kids that are feeling stressed about the school? And if they are coming in, they're feeling stressed, that whole atmosphere is gonna change at the school because that's the norm. If they're coming in and they're angry, that's where you get other major issues. If they're coming in and they're feeling calm or if they're coming in and they're smiling.

If they're coming in, they're smiling, their parents are smiling while dropping them off. If their parents are smiling while dropping them off, they're going to work and they're smiling. You know, there's just, there's this chain reaction that happens. And I got to see that firsthand a little bit because I heard parents come in and they were like, this is my favorite time. I'm like, really? You know, they're like, I look forward to this every week because I went to three days a week and I did that early. And it really made me want to do that.

for all the schools in the area and try to find other teachers that might want to do that with me. Just volunteering that time, ⁓ which is kind of hard to do. You you're asking someone to volunteer 7 45 AM to eight. hopefully in the future I can maybe like find a way to pay for teachers to go in and just do that acoustic sound. Because I just can't imagine if you were to do that, like, I mean, think big and every school in America had that when kids walk into the building.

How would that change things? Yeah. I've seen some teachers try to, you know, they have their kids line up outside the door and they have special handshakes and dances. Oh, that's wonderful. That's what we need more. It's changing the atmosphere. And I think that that's why those teachers are doing it. And they're seeing other teachers do it and like on TikTok and things like that. And they're like, oh, oh, I need to do that too. And yes, that's how it's a chain reaction. And that people know that's important.

Setting the tone for the day. setting the tone. especially for kids who thrive on routine and thrive on, you know, you have kids coming in where you don't know their background. That was devastating for me. I didn't expect to hear so many different stories that were heartbreaking, even in our small community, but I did. And carrying that home. The next morning I would go there and I'd be able to sing to that.

you know, whatever that heartache was. In my mind, I might have been verbally singing something happy, but in my mind and my heart, I was like, I can make this moment good for this kid. And maybe that can erase some of the negative thoughts that they're carrying in. know? Yeah, that's really cool. I just imagine like what would happen if that was every school in our area. Yeah, that we could... I mean, I know it's like, it feels impossible, but...

That's on my mind right now is how can we, even just the minimal, that's 15 minutes. I can't do every school, but if I can find other teachers maybe that are passionate about it with me, or even just people that can play a song or two, ⁓ or that can come to a class that I can teach and be like, hey, you can do this out of school for 15 minutes. That's just, I can't imagine what that would do to our area and our kids. ⁓

it would be a place to start for sure. Yeah. And see that's, that's small, but schools can start there. Yeah. Do you have any stories of kids specifically, and you don't have to share names, but kids that you had interactions with in the school setting that maybe behaviorally they were a challenge and other, you know, maybe for you and then that, that progressed or maybe for other teachers, they had problems with them, but because of music and your actions with them, there was

better outcomes or attention, you mentioned attention being part of it. Can you talk about any of those experiences that you had?

There was one that really impacted me. There was a few. There was one child that the principal said, you know, this kid has hated school since day one. They never liked coming to school, but your class is the only time I see them engaged. And that was pretty, that was like the first one I heard. And I was like, wow, that's pretty powerful in itself. ⁓ There was one child, cause music brings out emotions, you know, and when you're in a safe space too, emotions can come out. ⁓

there was a child that stayed after one of the classes and he just didn't want to move. And he had never participated in the class. It was very hard to get him to. And after this, he actually did open up a little bit. And I don't know necessarily this is all music related, but when I went over to him, I was like, hey, you know, do you need to discuss something? And he shared something very, very heavy about his parent that he was dealing with in that moment.

So I just was like, okay, let's just sit here for a moment. And then I could tell that he was very emotional. I had him, another class coming, I just gave the teacher like a little signal of like, me a minute. And I sent him, after we just kind of talked for just a minute, and I didn't offer anything, I didn't give anything other than just a safe moment, ⁓ and just reminded him like breathing, let's just breathe, and let's just sit here, and I don't care if it's He went to... ⁓

the nurse's office for a little bit to calm down and then went to his class. ⁓ There's a couple others, but there's one that really, really impacted me at the most recent school. And they had a rough home life. They are in the foster system, unofficially, really. ⁓ And from day one, I just felt this connection to this kiddo.

and they shared like their favorite song with me. I was like, oh, that's really cool. I actually really liked that song. American author, sweet. And I went home and I told my husband about this kiddo and I was like, he reminds me of one of my best friends growing up. And he was like, you know, we should maybe get an instrument in this kid's hands. This kid needs an instrument. It was kind of what he said. And by the end of the school year through...

many, many blessings, we were able to just get a small little instrument for this kiddo to just take home and have. And I don't know if he actually got the chance to really enjoy it because there was more things that ended up happening. there is this moment at the end of the year where, one, I heard from a caregiver of this kid how much the music meant to him and how much it really affected him and how they were seeing it at their house.

for the first time. And he ended up giving me a gift at the end. And it was a book that was one of his favorite books. And it happened to be something we kind of nerded out over for a moment when he was sharing his, he had a notebook of lyrics with me and stories and stuff. And he was sharing those with me. And I was like, that's really awesome. And found out he loved like drawing comics. And I'm like, I'm a bit of a nerd. I love, I met Stan Lee once. Like I love the Avengers and.

He gave me an Avengers book and it was just like a very sweet, but when a kid shares a book with you, I feel like that's such a big gift into their world. ⁓ And it was just his way of saying thank you for being there. And it wasn't really a ton of words that were said, but it was one of those, I could tell that they were impacted and that was enough.

⁓ And it was just really, really a big blessing. And there was, there's many kids, there's many kids that had rough stories, kids that didn't want to go home that were in, that were volunteering extra time to not go home, know, kids that they felt like their parents didn't like their voices, but they still wanted to ⁓ music is such a healer and can be such a great

⁓ cultivator of healing. And so I, there was many there was many and it, it became very heavy for quite a while, but it also felt very, I felt like I was given a gift that I got to see this and got to actually see how it helps people in a different way that I hadn't seen before. Yeah. I hear so many stories from teachers about the impact of just the,

time and attention they share with students. That's not math, science, it's the extracurricular stuff. It's the areas of school where kids can express themselves, where they can do stuff, whether it's sports or drama or ⁓ music. And a lot of these kids have heartbreaking stories. And I don't think

that people, unless you're a teacher or know a teacher or, you know, it's the pillow talk at night and the tears of what's being said, like my wife's job is so much more as a teacher. And it sounds like you're very familiar with this as well. I wasn't until this. Yeah. You get a front row seat to some like messed up stuff. And then, and then you feel this obligation to like make this better for them in some, in some kind of way. And that's something you don't learn in.

in school, know, if you want to be a teacher. My wife has her master's in education and I'm sure she never had, she probably should have had a counseling degree added to it instead, but people don't really see that, I don't think. Absolutely. I'm very privileged because those that do take my music lessons, they're coming from homes because this is the atmosphere that I try to set and the criteria I try to set for my students.

⁓ It requires hands-on parents, know, so you get a studio that's full of hands-on parents So you don't get a studio where they've been abandoned. Yeah, you know This was my first experience outside of orphanages in Asia and the slums of Asia This is my first experience of seeing kids Heartbroken over choices their parents were making or parents that were in prison parents that or siblings that died from

accidental overdoses, ⁓ very, very dark stuff, kids that were testifying against a parent. And it was such a cluster of, I was there for nine weeks and I found out a lot of these stories, like wanna say like halfway through it. And the teachers are aware of them because the kids have to talk somewhere. And so I am like praised the teachers because...

They are, they are caring so much of the emotional side. But I found out all these similar stories of just heartache around the same time. And I was going home and I'm like, how do I deal with this? How do I like leave this there? Or how do I give this emotional side of this heartache that I'm bringing, cause I'm totally an empath, ⁓ a space to heal itself? Like how do I disperse this so that I'm not carrying this burden too? And

Absolutely. Our poor teachers, I think that there should be a workshop of just counseling. Can we just shower you guys with massages and counseling? Totally. ⁓ Because I know that they're bearing the brunt of things. Because they're not the ones that making the executive decisions, but ⁓ they're the face of it because they're the ones that we interact with. As a parent, we don't necessarily interact with all the people that teach, or the board, education board.

So I think it's very easy for them to be treated so ugly. And I'm hearing stories of like, you know, there has been an atmosphere of change when it comes to parenting these days versus 10, 20, 30 years ago. That's completely changed. And the school system has changed in the last 60 years so much. So there's a lot that I feel like the teachers definitely get a brunt of that I was not aware of until...

I was in that shoe and I'm coming at it from, never wanna like step on the toes of teachers and I don't wanna say, hey, you should spend 15, 20 extra minutes doing music in your class. Well, it's great. Where's that 20 minutes gonna come from? You know, I wanna try my best to see them for how amazing that these teachers are and try to see how can I meet you so that I know you wanna do this? How can we make it happen in your classroom?

in a way that works with your schedule and what you want the kids to be learning and the requirements that you have to meet by the state. There's not a lot of time. There's teachers that are being required to use their prep time to do specials. so with me coming into the schools, I'm walking this very thin line of how can I really help a school put music back, but also not...

take away from the teachers, but add to it. Like not add more on their plate, but just kind of, just can we squeeze this in in a different way that makes sense for you and for how you have your classroom set up. Cause they don't need more on their plate. Totally. And they are the ones that are in the trenches. And I think a lot of times they're dealing with just decisions that are being made way above, above them. And

And they have to think about how to implement it like this. exactly. It feels like they're trying to do the best with what they have. And I think that's why the burnout is probably so high. Because once you get, once your time, like more is being demanded of you while your time is not increasing, it's shrinking or your resources aren't increasing, they're shrinking. It gets overwhelming, I think. And those are the kind of things that I wish people that were making the decisions were more.

in, in, um, in tune with because musical term. Yeah, exactly. What's your, what's your advice to the parents that maybe their kid isn't getting what they want for them to, to get as far as music and exposure to that and, using it as a tool. What's available outside of the

School system school system. Yeah, that you would like recommend to whether it's someone that lives right here on the peninsula or if it's just, you know, greater Alaska. ⁓ that's part of what I'm trying to build is resources in that way. Cause I couldn't find a ton that were just free, like using free resources one. So that's why I developed the podcast because I couldn't find another music podcast for kids that met elementary kids and taught them concepts or.

how to implement those concepts or music history or the importance of songs. And you look at all those spirituals that came out of the Civil War and there's so much history in there. Art tells so much history in general. And it tells the history of the real people, I guess I should say, than history books. So podcast, I have my podcast, but there's so many other music resources. ⁓

On YouTube, there's, I mean, if they're in preschool, things like as easy as Ms. Rachel or I love Danny Goh, my kids love Danny Goh in elementary. I've used him a couple times. There is so, I mean, there's many creators on YouTube now that showcase music in general.

If they are a kids creator, they like to implement music. love Bluey for that reason, because it has so much classical music just put in. And so kids are recognizing Mozart without knowing it. It's really cool. so I have my YouTube channel, Greenhouse Music, underscore AK. And then I have my podcast and those are both free. And I know that there's others and I'm really trying hard to think of other resources right now that are on YouTube. Is your podcast also called Greenhouse Music? Yeah, the Greenhouse Music podcast.

⁓ music for littles, is another YouTube channel. but really it can be as simple as finding a Mozart song to just play when you're feeling overwhelmed. you know, parents get burnt out too. And having just a moment of, Hey, let me just play this real quick.

Well, I calm down and maybe I can wash the dishes because that calms me down or something. And the kid can calm down to Mozart music, just like a little reset. You can use music to help with resets. I mean, when it comes to the education side of it, podcasts, YouTube are still very viable. ⁓ I have done free music classes in the community for a while now. Now I also do music lessons, obviously. And I know that there's many teachers in the area.

We have a great community of music teachers. And because many are online now in general across the US, there's become more options for parents in general to have even just cheap, or not cheap, but inexpensive music education in just a simple way. It can start small. You can start with just one podcast or one video just to kind of pique the interest a little bit.

There's music education doesn't just come from looking at a staff of music and someone explaining the notes. It comes from listening to it too. Because one kid can listen to a song and then they know how to play it. And that's something that's just inert to them. They have this from a very young age and that could be your kid for all you know. It doesn't have to just be, I am learning something like I'm learning the ABCs. It can be as easy as listening to just classical music.

That's a good point. I think it's cool that what you're doing is like you wanted it to be free. In the beginning, it's interesting because hearing you talk about it in the very, very beginning, you're like, I can make money on this. I didn't think about that. And now as someone that's doing this, you're like, there needs to be a good free resource for people to be able to have. So I think that's a cool. I mean, you look at it. We're so rural here. Yeah. There's many villages that don't have music. Yeah.

⁓ you know, that's a completely different ball game because there's, there's a lot that is traditionally, you know, passed down, but I mean, in their schools, they don't have it as an option. And so for me, it wasn't just about, ⁓ free, but it was also about if it's free, it becomes more accessible and there's less barriers to entry. And I do believe that people think there's too many barriers to entry when it comes to learning about music. and I want to decrease that.

idea. Cool. So that's a big priority That's interesting. I hadn't thought of that connection. So tell me the story behind Greenhouse Music like officially as, as, the, as the podcast, as the YouTube channel, when did that even become a thing? Like, I feel like there's probably a moment where, a moment where that was an idea and it evolved to this is what we're doing now. And I am

creating podcasts and I'm doing YouTube videos and there's a demand for it and people are watching and listening and following. And I'm in Soldotna Alaska. Well, and it's funny, that's a kind of a seller point to a lot of people outside the States is when you say Alaska, they're like, ⁓ what? Music must be different there. it's a different country. ⁓ This is kind of an interesting-ish story because it started out Delana music and that's what I was for a long time.

and that covered kind of my performing side and my teaching side. So that's the rebrand that you talk about. It used to be Delana Music and then rebranded to Greenhouse. rebranded, it changed a lot. I was still, I became a mom a couple, like back in 2017. And so was under Delana Music until 2021, the end of 2021. So I had two kids through this process. The pandemic happened.

We were building a house. My husband was gone from our home 80, 90 hour weeks. And so he'd come home and he'd sleep. And I was barely surviving. He was barely surviving. Our relationship somehow like got better because we got really effective at communication. And as a young married couple, that's kind of really good to learn at that time. But I was a young mom and I was going nuts. And I still had the business, but I was very low key. It was very.

minuscule because my time as mom was so demanding. I had a very difficult toddler time. so we get to 2021 and we have our last child. She's now four, which is mind boggling. And in the middle of contractions, I saw this ad for a scholarship program in Solotna that was like a business thing. was like, oh, sweet.

I had wanted to do online classes since I had my first baby. So back in 2017, I had that idea of like, it would be really cool to start putting like learning videos on YouTube. Wish I would have done it then because you'd be a lot farther. And that's the thing with content creation. It always should have happened sooner if you're ever going to do it. And I, my husband was exhausted and he was done with the company that he was working with. He's like, I can't, they, it wasn't a good match anymore. And he had been loyal to this company for so long. And

So we get to the end of 2021, I'm filling out this application in the middle of like prodramal. So it was like long breaks between contractions, but contraction, filling out this application, contraction. And then I know it's a weird, like, I don't know why hyper-focus I needed to distract myself. So I fill this out just kind of on a whim of like, yeah, I would like to do my online classes finally. It'd be cool to have like 4,000 bucks to put towards that. And then I had my baby.

I got diagnosed with COVID like two days later and I had a home birth. like everything was, we were still at home and everything. ⁓ And I get like this notification of like, Hey, you've, you're one of the finalists. I'm like, What do I do now? And they're like, you're going to speak in two weeks in front of some judges and they're going to decide if your business is worth investing in. And I'm like, I have COVID. I have to like make the speech. I have to get a prototype basically like.

I'm thinking of all this stuff. So I'm doing this like laptop here, baby here. And then I end up giving the speech or speaking in front of these guys. And I actually did pretty good, but I have my baby on me the whole time because she was three weeks old. And so that's actually one of my like proudest moments as a business owner and mom was having my baby like in front of all these like intimidating people. You know, it's not like Mark Rubin or anything, but business people of our community and including one of my former like business school professors.

⁓ And I ended up getting it and I got it and my husband during this time was on maternity leave. He had paid, you know, paid like sick leave and he comes into the room and he's like pacing. I'm like, what are you doing? He's like, what if I quit my job and we just go full blast into the music, you know, and do you think it would work? I'm like, you're the numbers guy. You tell me. He's like, okay, we'd have to our car. So we'd only have one vehicle. ⁓

We couldn't do like anything fun for a while. Like we couldn't go on vacations, still have it. But I would be a full-time stay at home dad so that I could take care of the very demanding little girls that we have, that we love so much. And you could just be teaching full-time and you could develop this online thing that you want to do. And I was like, are you nuts? We have a newborn. This is crazy.

But also, yeah, let's do it. ⁓ So a couple of weeks of figuring out how we're going to do this, because this is like the beginning of November, and I had my rebrand started in January. So he also came up with the name, because I was like, I don't like Delana Music. I haven't it for a while now. I don't feel like it represents where I want to go. And our last name is Green. ⁓ Somehow we have very hippie sounding names for our kids, which is not his personality whatsoever.

more mine than his. He's not the kind of guy that would be stuck in Homer. he's, you know, and he's like, Hey, why don't we do greenhouse? I'm like, okay, greenhouse music studio, the greenhouse music, the greenhouse studio, like kind of putting, he's like, no, no, keep it simple. Greenhouse Music And I was like, ⁓ and I remember this moment of him like standing in the doorway being like, no, you're overthinking. It's simple. Keep it simple. There's always someone in the relationship that's an overthinker. I'll just say that.

It's also me too. But he also has the most beautiful way with words that I can't even... He puts things in ways that I don't know how it works, but it does. And I just remember that moment being like, that's it. And it was such a simple yes to, yeah, a business I had been overthinking for so long that was mine, but also didn't feel like me anymore.

I didn't feel like it was supposed to be Delana music. felt bigger than just me and I wanted it to be. And so we did that. And when you look at all the language that surrounds the idea of a greenhouse, it's like growth and flourish. And I love that terminology. Cultivate. Because I think that that goes so, it's thinking about weaving and that goes so hand in hand with musical growth, especially in the brain. I think that the brain is like one big gigantic like kind of

leaves and flowers and things. So it just worked perfectly. that launched that whole scholarship, got me my first, you know, camera. ⁓ It got me my website. These websites are actually kind of expensive. Stinks. And I started developing those courses and it took a lot of time. And the thing that was really rough was when you are on a shoe string budget as a business.

You can't hire people to do the things you don't know how to do. You have to learn how to do them. So I had to learn video editing and I had to learn how to code so that can make my own website. And now I'm finding myself like looking at a website that I'm like, I like what they did there. Okay, what is, what, what thing did they do? ⁓ it's WordPress. that's interesting. ⁓ and actually looking at, know, I'm finding myself doing that. It's like, I, I had to teach myself how to do this. And I think that's been a really cool gift. ⁓

⁓ Eventually, I would like it to be more than just, you know, me having to learn everything. I'd like to be able to pay someone else to do something. But this is our only income and it was a huge risk and it was a hard that we chose. But because we chose to go from him working all this time, me being with the kids and struggling with the business to my husband being home, us being able to be together.

all the time and not be sick of each other, you know, or anything. he's my best friend. So it's, we enjoy our time together. Our kids were here for them as they're growing up. And as they're little, we still have one that's in the house, not in school yet. And he'll probably go into the workforce after, you know, she starts school, but it's such a cool gift and it comes with sacrifices. We can't go on vacations. You know, we, we have one vehicle, but they're the sacrifices that we.

sometimes feel proud of because it means that we get more time with our kids than maybe a nine to five parent would get. And that's a gift, especially when they're young, these very vital years. So greenhouse music stemmed a lot from my life as a mother and my husband and my relationship kind of forming this direction. ⁓

And it's grown to more than that, like through the experience with the students saying they didn't have music. And that is hopefully are expanding into more of a online presence even more. The podcast started because I really, really want to do one for years. And so did the YouTube channel. I've wanted to do one for years. And I tried a podcast in a different way, like being a business person, like, you know, talking about that and talking to other business moms, because I'm very passionate about that. But.

It was starting a new business and I was realizing that very, very quickly. And I'm like, this is taking three hours a week from my music business that needs more of my time, not less. So I developed a rule for myself. And I said, if I can't use something that I'm doing in three separate different ways, then I can't do it. Or I have to categorize it under a hobby, which gets a different set amount of time. Gotcha. So a podcast, even though I was passionate about it I wanted to do it.

It was about a subject that was not with the music business and I could not use it in different ways than that. So I had to let go of it. It was hard. ⁓ and it felt like a failure, which I don't like, but my husband told me last night and I keep trying to remember this fail forward. So you learn from your failure. And the next thing I was like, okay, if I really want to do this, if I really want to do a podcast, it needs to correlate with the business and I needed to be able to use it in other ways.

So I use that audio for other things. And now I have that resource available to the parents everywhere that want their kids to learn music. And it's a global reach, which is really cool. Yeah. Did you, I'm going to just make an assumption here that you and your husband reached a crisis of belief moment after you had made this decision to launch into a greenhouse full time. Did you guys come to those crossroads of like, is this really what, were we?

really serious about doing this or? Every summer. Yeah. Enrollment goes down during the summer. So as a teacher here for music, people want to be out in Alaska in the summer. summer is my lowest income months. And every summer we come across like, okay, is this, are we going to be able to make it, you know, the next year, is there something we can do to change how this summer feels? ⁓

And so yeah, we come across that and there's been like this summer he took a ⁓ little bit of a job, ⁓ just helping a friend a couple hours a week, like 10, 12 hours. And it was enough to be like, I don't like this. ⁓ And so he went back and so he's like, okay, we definitely don't want that to be an every summer thing. So we're still trying to figure out how can we grow this to be a little bit more year round sustainable. ⁓

And then whenever a kid comes home is like, hey, so-and-so went on a vacation to Hawaii. Can we go on a vacation? I've never been on a vacation. We're like, but you get other things that are really great for being, you know, and it's hard for them to understand that. So there's those moments where we're like, I really wish we could, but we also try to give ourselves grace on there's so many wonderful gifts that we get from this time and I really don't want to take it for granted. So yeah.

Every summer we definitely go through that of like, ⁓ how are we going to get through this? ⁓ So that's what I'm hoping to change a little bit. Maybe this next year is to figure out a better sustainment model for the summertime because people want to get outside, especially when it's a winter that's this cold. Talk about your YouTube channel. I saw you post this in the last couple of months, I think. My time could be off, but...

You reached a milestone that many YouTube channels look to accomplish, which is that 10,000 subscribers. That's a big deal. Just from all the stuff that I'm learning with the podcast, everything is aimed at, get your first 10,000, this, 10,000, that. 10,000 seems to be like the, legit now number. You wanna talk about that journey?

boy. Maybe that feeling when you finally went from like 9,999. There was a lot of pressure of like, I got to keep this up. Like I have to keep doing stuff. I had to let go of it a little bit because it was being, I was like looking at statistics like every night. Also, I don't feel like it was earned by me. So you talk about imposter syndrome when you first started and I was laughing at myself because I'm like, I totally feel that. Like, ⁓ because I posted one video that it was,

I'm still figuring, I was still figuring out how YouTube shorts worked and I was seeing like everyone posts, like, you reposts, like things from TikTok and then like share them with your own thoughts. And I did one of those. Um, and it blew up like five million views. And I was like, oh, okay, well I'll, I'll use this. I'll ride it. And so I started kind of posting more of my own videos. Uh, and, but they were following me to get more of that. And that wasn't mine. And I'm like,

Uh-oh. So I tried to keep posting my own things and that helped. But then it got like, I'm trying too hard for this right now and I can't do that. Because it's not, I felt like I was setting myself up to fail because everyone that followed me was looking for this and I'm trying to reach that, but it's not my content. It was music related and it was singing related and it just happened to be

trending and I don't know if I was the first person to like repost it on YouTube and I was so close to getting monetized that I'm like, ⁓ that's it. Yeah. And there was like one of those little like asterisk things that made it so I wasn't monetized through but I was that close and I really frustrated. so that was, it was really cool and I try my best to like ride it and to use it. I still don't know exactly how to use it.

Uh, now I still have over 10,000. still have people that watch my stuff. But if you look at the numbers from that shorts and kind of compare it to the rest of mine, I think YouTube's like, yeah, we know that that was a fluke. 10 views on some of my long form, like my podcast episodes. So every once in a while I try to like put out something that actually is more than just audio because my podcast automatically goes there. Um, and so my.

my feed or whatever is just floored with like the podcast ⁓ screenshot and then the audio of it. But, you know, the things that I am really proud of that I created, like I did a song called Silly Sailor because I was sick of wanting to do Drunken Sailor, but it's not appropriate for kids. If you actually look at the lyrics, that song is heavily not appropriate. And so I was like, I got to create my own version because I want to use it. Because sea shanties are awesome for kids because they're so like...

easy to memorize and they're easy with a strong beat and there's just this workforce to them and this energy. so kids love them and I wanted to use it. like, I can't. And so I made Silly Sailor and that one's gotten quite a few, like, so that's my own content that's gotten quite a few views and has done really well. And then I have another one that's called The Trouble Clef Song that has also gotten like a lot of support, I think, in the music education community. So they're starting to kind of pick that up.

which is who that video is kind of geared for them to use it so that kids can do it, because that's how the kids are going to get exposed to it. No one's going to YouTube looking for a Trouble Cuff song, you know? It's very rare. So that's something a teacher will look for. ⁓ So it's figuring out exactly how do I get my message out to my niche or my core group is the kids. So I'm trying to get more of on YouTube kids in general.

which is a tricky thing for YouTube to do. there's not a lot of, there's not, like there's tons of YouTubers out there that are like, yeah, if you want your podcast to reach this, you got to do this, this, this, and this. If you want to create content for kids that's quality content, you can't find a YouTuber out explaining that. They talk about how you can use AI to create like a bunch of videos, but there's no one saying like, hey, this is a strategy for creating good content for kids.

this is how you should market it, this is how you reach those parents, there's nobody talking about that. And I would fill that space if I could, but I have no time. And I'm still learning it all. So I have no one to really guide me in that direction, so I just kind of had to look at the people that have made it, like Dani Goh and Miss Rachel, which I was watching her at the beginning when she first started videos, and I'm like, that's what I'm trying to do. And this was like 2019. ⁓

And I'd be watching her and be like, OK, maybe I can do that. And then another year, I by and I'm like, maybe I can do that. So was finally like, I'm doing it. And I'm putting as much as I can into it. But one video takes a week or two. As you know, editing is a beast. when you're learning how to do it at the same time as making them, you don't have all the systems in place that make it go faster. And so it takes a lot of time.

Like one video takes a week to do and you're spending a lot of time on it. So it's a slow process and a slow build. I'm trying to just make sure that I have something at least once a month that I can add to it. I did a Christmas song that was really fun and that actually was probably the fastest video I've ever made, which is a miracle. was the of the Christmas song? Jingle Wiggle Wonderland.

And I recorded the song really quickly. And this is on the podcast. You can find on the podcast and the YouTube. I have. Yeah, I put it on the podcast and I put it on the YouTube channel. OK. And it's probably the last like actual video that I posted on the YouTube channel. And it was back like December 19th, 20th around there. And I wrote, recorded and then I just put a bunch of stock images to this video because I don't have a lot of time to record myself like singing and dancing, which is what I would love to do for it. But.

just don't have the time and I still want to create it and I still want kids to have that fun like Christmas jingle song. But it's hard to balance that with like, I want to do this. And I know it's good for the kids and I know it's good for the business, but I have a limit on how much time I can spend on it versus all the other things I got to do. And so it's hard because I have to kind of like step on my own foot every once in while and be like, no. ⁓

hit the brakes, you're gonna spend 20 hours on this and completely neglect everything else. So it's slow. It's really good that you have that type of observation though, that to be able to check yourself, a lot of people would throw themselves at a project and the family is like, the house is burning around you and you're just like, I'm gonna do this. That would be my husband though, is he's my check and he, know,

If I'm not seeing it, he brings it up. it's a balancing act of years coming together. I think the rule of three was what really, really helped me. And also I have a sticky note because yes, I have ADHD and I can hyper fixate on something for hours and not eat or drink or realize I have a life. ⁓ I have a sticky note that says like, if you're doing this an hour from now, are you going to be happy with that? To like make sure that if I'm, I will sit there and work for an hour on this

specific typography I want for something. And that's way too much time on that. But I'm so fixated on it, I can't close out. And so that sticky note being right there helps me realize, okay, this is something that I need to a 15 minute timer for. And I have to get this done in 15 minutes or I can't do it. And then I have another one like, this, ⁓ what does it say? Is this worth it? ⁓ Or is this energy well spent? So like I...

I have to put those in place. Otherwise I just fail and I don't like failing. So those systems have been put in place because I have broken those systems and found I needed it. So it's not like this self-realization that came from me just being very hyper aware. It's self-realization that came from me learning through the process of failure. That's great advice.

I'm gonna remember that one. That's the rule three. I'm so happy I came up with that myself I will say that does feel kind of like it has been a good check But an example would be like if I want to do a song even in the song I try to like think okay What are three things that a child can learn from this? And then how can I use this song three ways I can put it in my podcast I can put it out on my youtube channel and I can

use it in my music classes. Like things as small as that. Otherwise I have to categorize it as not worth the time right now. This has to be a later project because I will spend too much time on it. That is a problem I have. that's great. It's put me in check a couple of times and I've like, I love board games and I love writing about board games.

But I have to categorize that as a hobby to write a blog about it. So that is a less amount of time that I get towards that every week. And I can't use that as my me time. It has to be a separate thing. And that's all to make sure that I have a healthy amount of time in my me time, hobby time, family time, work time. Because when it's all at your house and you're working all at home, it's really hard to put those in categories.

They all just blend together, especially when you're doing something in the creative field that you love so much. What keeps you going?

Because you're raising, mean, you're raising, listening to you talk, I'm like, you, you got a lot going on and yet you still have the great sense of, great awareness to be, to set some, some clear boundaries. you have this great support from your husband and you're, you're going through and with this, direction in your life and at least for now, you know, with your kids being young, you're doing, you're kind of juggling it all.

Like what is the thing that keeps you plugging away?

That's a really good question. I should totally have an answer for that. Definitely the passion of it and the fact that it's so kind of woven into my life. It's clear it's the direction I'm supposed to be going. And I think from the faith standpoint of it, there's been a lot of... Someone told me recently to... You know, the verse that talks about... I don't know your faith background necessarily, but there's the verse that talks about...

seeing the fruit like you will know by the fruit it bears. And I always kind of looked at that as a singular thing. Like if someone does good in this part of their life, it will, this will, they'll be blessed financially and it be known, kind of a thing. But someone recently explained that in a different way and it was the fruits of the spirit using, testing things by how ⁓ the fruits of the spirit show up in

the way it's expressed. let's see if I can word that better. My podcast, I've not done a lot of faith-based things on it. I've kept it very neutral, ⁓ just so that everyone feels comfortable listening to it. But for the Christmas season,

I really felt led to do more of a faith-based Lean into it little Yeah, lean into it a little bit more. And there is such a huge connection between the church and music and history in general. So, it's hard to lean away from that. And when you're dealing with Christmas carols, that's the message of all of them. So, I went that route and I focused on this girl that was getting stories from, or these letters from her dad that send her on a journey to learn about a Christmas carol and learn the story of it and the message of it. And

Through that, she learns extra lessons of these kind of things that the parents want her to develop. You things that we want our kids to learn. My daughter pointed out about, I want to say it was like episode nine or 10. She's like, it's cool how you're doing the fruits of the spirit. I'm like, what? And she starts listening. She's like, that episode talked about patience. That one talked about kindness. That one talked about faithfulness. And I'm just like, ⁓ I guess I am. I guess I am. And it's things like that where

I feel like there's this validation into what we're doing or this confirmation that happens that I wish it could be enough that it's a passion, but many people start things from passion and it still goes downward. And the love and the joy that it brings me and the things that it brings my family.

the fact that I get to be home with my family. All of that goes into it. But I also think that it would have fallen apart a long time ago if I didn't have this external ⁓ support that I believe comes from God. I think that at the foundation, it would have fallen apart if I didn't feel like there was this voice inside or this... when I've tried to walk away.

or when I've tried to look another direction, it's been like, ha, nope. You know, with the school's thing, that kept happening. And my husband kept being like, told you. Told you. Because he's been on board from that from day one, and I've been the one that struggled with the most because it felt so much bigger than me, and I don't have an education degree. And so, it's felt very imposter syndrome. And if I didn't have him, if I didn't have my family, and if I didn't have...

God really showing his faithfulness through that process, I wouldn't continue. And because there are days where it is hard and there's been days in the past, you know, where I started to doubt like, is this really what I want to do? Because it's not like it brings in a ton of money. You know, we don't do it for the money, but we still have to support our family. And in the tough times where it gets hard and you feel like you can't support, it's like,

should I go into a different field? But then there's something that always ends up speaking to me in one way or another and speaking to my husband at the same time. That's like, no, this is what I have planned for you and you're gonna do this. You're right where you need to be. Yeah. And so I think underneath it all, I don't even know what word to put with that on what makes it happen or what drives me.

⁓ I think it's hard to put that into words other than what I just said in probably 2000 words. It's a calling. Yeah, it's a calling. And I feel that very heavily and I know my husband does too. And if he didn't, then we wouldn't be here too. Yeah. And I think his, just from what you've shared, it's really, your relationship is pretty special, pretty cool. You guys can be so like in tune with one another in the direction that you're going.

⁓ is cool and I think that is definitely a huge. We're about to celebrate 10 years. So it's like I'm right now on like even more cloud nine because I'm just so excited for that. I'm just like, ⁓ yeah. That's awesome. So looking ahead with greenhouse music, anything people can look forward to, anything you're excited about, you know, we just got into the new year, anything that you're like, I might mess around with this or you keep in. I know you talked about the rules.

Yeah, rule three. I'm not trying to like tempt you with maybe a fourth thing, but maybe just something you're bringing into Greenhouse in the upcoming year that people can be excited about. So definitely, I'm working on my website right now. I'm doing a whole, I'm going to do a whole different website structure and it's going to have more products. So families can buy like packages for, to print out or I hope to have something I ship out in the future, but stock, carrying stock is not really my idea right now.

⁓ but things like principles for families to have more just small music projects at home and not like a whole big course to do. So a little bit more attainable for, ⁓ smaller projects and learning music. So implementing ways that is one of the things that I'm doing right now is kind of rebuilding my website, which is a whole lot. ⁓ I'm going to be at Tustamena and I again this year, which I'm really excited for. And I'm talking to about two other schools.

⁓ about doing something there as well. So right now my mind is set on those on how I'm gonna do that. But that rule three even comes down to like the curriculum I build for those independent schools. How can I use that? Like how can I maybe package that differently and put it somewhere else? And so I'm already.

placing that onto like the website in packages. So there's going to be more products that I'm trying to do, more printables, because I have workbooks already for kids. This year, my New Year's resolution, which we don't even really do resolutions, but this year we're like, hey, let's just kind of talk a little bit. ⁓ I have wanted to be a writer for most of my life.

I've always loved writing stories and I love writing songs in story format. And the story I wrote for the podcast series that I did over Christmas break ended up really just being something I fell in love with. And it's a story from beginning to end. Like it's a full book, 35,000 words, which is bigger than the size of Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe. So I want to work on self-publishing that, which is not something that's new to me. Or I guess I should say publishing it in general.

Self-publishing is not new to me. However, I would like to query that, which means it goes out to actual agents. And so I don't know. At the end of next year, I hope to have that published in some way or another, but that would be probably my New Year's resolution is to have more of my writing out there and my original stories. I already have music for kids, so I have albums available to download. the Christmas one. I have one called Music and Memories or Moments and Memories.

And so all of that, I just keep doing and I'm, yeah, I wish I had like a, a six month plan of this month. I'm working on this this month. I'm releasing this. don't. That's, mean, that's still cool. I mean, that's still a cool project to look at undertaking. It's, it's also helpful that you discovered something in that, um, series that you did with the podcast to kind of throw you into that direction. Oh, I can actually write something this big in this amount of time. Cause I wrote it in a very small amount of time.

and under a lot of pressure, but pressure I put there myself. And I've tried to do like, there's the thing called NaNoWriMo, which is where you write a novel for November and it's been canceled. But for many years, that was like a national just goal that I wouldn't say was really a competition, but you could technically win it if you finished. And I used to try to do that, but it was 50,000 words in a month and it seemed so hard and so unreachable. And then,

after December, I'm like, wow, I just wrote 35,000 words. I created a whole chapter book for kids. And that realization was like, oh, I can actually, I can actually do that. So, and I got amazing feedback from it and the podcast results showed how favorable it was. was getting more and more listeners. My first episode of that series, cause it was 25 episodes. The first one got more listeners than my very first episode ever.

which you, you know, is a kind of a podcast goal anyways, because usually your first episode gets a lot of the bulk of the listening and this overreached that or it beat that out of the water. So I guess for things that are coming, I would say my, my Facebook page, my website are pretty much where you see me post things. So greenhouse music on Facebook. And then my website is greenhouse music, AK.com. But

might be a small change to that in the future, if I can get the domain that I want. ⁓ And that's where I'm going to be sharing the courses I have. That's where people can contact me for music lessons in the area. That's where I'll have printables and other products like music and books and things. want it to represent more of the overall direction of what I'm trying to build, which is a very all-encompassing... All forms of media have music education.

that's what I want this website to be versus my old one was more about just the online courses. And it was through a learning module course site that you could build them. So this is a huge undertaking, but I'm faster at making websites than I was four years ago. So that feels cool. Yeah. Anything we, anything we missed, anything you want to circle back to? I mean, honestly, I just, I think that

music, the idea that it can be accessible, even to someone that doesn't know anything about it, needs to be understood. to that, my goal is to take away the barriers to entry. And that means even when kids come in to learn in their first music class, the things that I teach them that first month are to get rid of the barrier to entry of just learning the instrument. But

When it comes to if you're just a parent that wants music in your home and you don't even know how, hopefully I'm talking to that parent in everything that I do. And I want them to know that they can have it and it doesn't have to be anything big. It can be something small. You know, it's just like exercising. Sometimes you start small, but it can just be small and it doesn't have to feel like this huge undertaking to include music in your.

home school curriculum or even teachers having it in their classroom. And the amount of incredible things that it can add to a child's life and the way it can enrich them is numerous, too numerous to count. And I just want every child to have access to that. So I guess that is really just the punch that I'd like to bring home. That's awesome. We are so lucky to have

to have you here in Alaska on the peninsula as a resource for just people locally and hopefully encouraging to other people out around the state to be aware of what's going on with, with music in our schools and the gap that is there that needs to be filled somehow so that our kids can continue to build those neural networks and have the resource and the tool there to be able to express themselves and to learn and to grow and

what you're doing is directly affecting that. so thank you so much for doing what you're doing. I hear you saying that.

Yeah. Well, thank you for having me. no worries. I'm thankful that we got to work this out. If you ever come up with like a group of creators to do like a Facebook group or a Discord group or something, I definitely feel like there are many creators in There might be something there. And we should be talking to each other more because I don't think there's really a connection point for.

creators in our state. If there were, would be in Anchorage and not everyone can drive that distance. A lot of people assume that I'm in Anchorage. Yeah. Because no one would ever do anything in Nikiski didn't know where you were when I reached out to you after Shelby. I was like, where did this take place? Because it looked very huge, like a great set in and it is a great set up appreciate that. And so it looks like, it looks pro. I appreciate that. And it is pro.

Yeah, I think people are a little bit surprised that in such a small community, you can create something very big. appreciate that. Is there anybody that you think would be a cool interview for the podcast? Anyone that comes to mind? always ask people that. Denise Thompson. Yeah, that's last name. owns Soothe. And she's someone that I'm always like, man, she's smart. I'm writing it down. ⁓ And then Melanie Allen.

Or Mel Allen, ⁓ you know, if you haven't had her yet, she's great. Like Mel's? Yeah. Mel's? Yeah. Mel's Mel? Yeah, Mel's Mel. ⁓ I mean, there's so many. Yeah. There's, we have a lot of great people on this, in this community. I wish that there was more ways to connect. Like I would, I wish I had like a mentor, a business mentor to help guide me through these really frustrating moments.

You know, so I love, I love the idea of finding more through podcasts like yours, especially local ones. appreciate that. Shelby talked about so much of what she went to business school and then like, learned so much outside. Like, and that's where I stopped going to business school because my business was succeeding. Yeah. And I'm like, why am I here? And even my, I was my professor who was like the business main dude at KBC was like,

getting the best grades, why are you dropping out?" And I'm like, my business is successful and I'm getting too busy. And he's like, yeah, that makes sense. that was the first time I ever did really good in school. know, I'm like, darn it. But yeah, there's so much that goes into an entrepreneur's mind. And especially when you add in a little bit of that neurodivergent sprinkle.

It can be easy to feel very isolated or alone, especially in this area where it's hard to actually, like we all talk to each other, but we're all so busy to make this work. It's hard to actually find time to really have quality learning experiences with each other. And so I hope that we can find creative ways to do that. And I think people coming on podcasts and talking about their experience, then someone else can be like, that's smart. I liked what Shelby said about potato chips where

⁓ Businesses chips. was like, where does this, that is smart. Businesses are like potato chips. You can't just have one. You can't just have one. I was laughing at them. I'm like, man, that's a one I'm plugging away. Because I feel like that's, you know, it's so true, but our area is so full of business owners and we have, it's like, once I find another business owner that I'm wanting to learn something from, like, another potato chip. And I just can't get enough. want to know from so many more because we all are in such a niche place when you

search online of like how to start a piano studio. Everything is awesome and can be applicable, but it's not for here. You know, everything's so unique here. I definitely want to see more of that community idea here. I guarantee people are going to have learned so much from just from your seat and they're like, Oh, I experienced that too. Or I want to be able to, you know, this way or do that or the realizations that you might have.

I think a lot of people get that. And so I do hope to have more people like that. to come back maybe and talk more about the business side of things. Cause there's definitely so much to share with that eventually. But I can't wait to see more of whoever you get on here. Cause I think it'll be really cool. I appreciate that. Yeah. Well, Delana Green, Greenhouse Music. Thank you so much for coming and hanging out with me. you, Manny. This is awesome.

Manny (1:48:17)
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Manny (1:49:00)
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